T he P arty Game

Components 180 Blue “Theoretical” Cards 4 Blue “Bazinga!” Cards 75 Red “Experimental” Cards–Includes 45 Basic cards and 30 Experimental Formula cards 12 Blank Cards–3 Basic Red cards, 2 Experimental Formula cards, and 7 Blue cards; make your own cards out of these 60 Point Chips–12 each of numbers 1 through 5 6 Envelopes–Used for submitting two Blue cards simultaneously for an Experimental Formula

Set Up 1. Shuffle all of the Blue cards together, including the four special “Bazinga!” cards. Put the Blue cards into a stack in the middle of the play area so that each player can reach them. (You can split them into two separate stacks to make reaching them easier.)

2. Shuffle all of the Red cards together. Put them into a stack in the middle of the play area.

3. Sort the point chips by number into separate piles and put those piles and the envelopes in the middle of the play area.

4. If you are playing with six or seven players, you’re ready to go! If you are playing with five players, remove the “5 Point” point chips. If you are playing with four players, remove the “5 Point” and the “4 Point” point chips, and so forth.

Optional Rule for Five or Seven Players: In a five-player game, you may remove two point chips from each pile so that everyone gets to referee the same number of times. In a seven-player game remove five chips from each pile.

Getting Ready For T he First T urn 1. Choose a random player to be the first referee.

2. Each player, including the first referee, draws a hand of seven cards from the Blue Deck.

Playing a T urn 1. The referee flips over a Red card and reads it aloud. If it has a green background and says “Experimental Formula” on it, the referee indicates that as well.

2. Each player (other than the referee) submits a Blue card from his or her hand–face down–to the referee. The goal is to submit a card that you think matches the criteria on the Red card. If the Red card is an Experimental Formula, players submit two cards instead, using their envelopes.

EXAMPLE: If the Red card says “Often Leads to Disaster” you could submit a Blue card to the referee, such as “Killer Robot.” If the Red card were an Experimental Formula, such as “Hilarious Battle,” you would submit two Blue cards using your envelope, such as “Horny Engineer” and “Giant Rabbits.”

3. If any player has a Bazinga! card in his or her hand and wants to play it, NOW is the time to do so—that is, after each player has made a submission, but before the referee has revealed those submissions! If a Bazinga! card is played, the referee flips up a brand new Red card to replace the old Red card, creating entirely new criteria by which to evaluate those same submissions. The referee flips cards from the Red Deck until he or she gets a card of the same type (either Basic or Experimental Formula) as the original card, discarding any other revealed cards.

4. The referee mixes up the submitted Blue cards or Envelopes so that no one knows who submitted what. Then, the referee turns all of the cards face up, reading each card name aloud. He or she then ranks each card (or pair of cards) in the order he or she feels they best match the criteria stated on the Red card. The first place submission is awarded the highest numbered point chip, which is taken from the pile, the second place submission is awarded the second highest point chip, and so forth.

5. The referee collects all of the cards played that round and puts them in a discard pile.

6. The player to the left of the referee becomes the new referee, and you start a new round!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Players ALWAYS IMMEDIATELY draw Blue cards until they have seven in their hand; you don’t have to wait until the end of the round. Just immediately draw back up to seven whenever you have fewer than seven, and remember that if you submitted for an Experimental Formula or played a Bazinga! card, you’ll need to draw more than one card to get back up to seven.

Ending the Game Once enough rounds have passed that all of the point chips have been awarded, the game is over. Each player totals up his or her points, and the player with the most is the winner! In the case of a tie, each of those players is the winner!

Additional Notes • Remember that the Red card is always being seen from the referee’s perspective, so if the card is “I Wish It Were in the Room with Us” it’s what the referee wishes were in the room, or in the case of “Could Make My Love Life More Interesting,” it’s the referee’s love life in question.

• If there’s an Experimental Formula card that requires you to “fill in the blanks” with your submissions, it’s up to the discretion of the referee to choose which card fills in which blank!

Game Variations THE BIG BANG THEORY CHARACTER PARTY: Each player picks a favorite character from the show. Whenever you’re the referee, try to evaluate from the perspective of that character!

EXPERIMENTAL TEAM-UP: If you have a large group of players, try splitting up into two-person teams! You and your teammate get to be co-referees when it’s your turn. For Experimental Formula rounds, you and your teammate each select one card without showing each other, to create one submission! For basic rounds, play as normal and submit separately from your teammate (if there are more than five players submitting, simply award no point chips beyond fifth place). At the end of the game, you and your teammate add your point chips together to determine your team’s score!

THE BIG BANG THEORY: TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.(s12)©2012 CZE All Rights Reserved.